“Read my lips: No new taxes”

Do you remember the words in my post title? I sure do, and I wasn’t even very politically aware then. That was George Bush, Sr., making a promise to the American people: “Read my lips: No new taxes.” He broke that promise.

It looks as if Barack Obama is readying himself to break that promise too. More than that, he’s planning on breaking that promise in a mad rush to fix a fairly static situation (health care isn’t going anywhere between now and next year), and to embark upon a government funded system that will inevitably go bankrupty — and that’s despite taxing the middle class into oblivion.

George Bush was destroyed politically when he broke his promise. Will Barack Obama also be destroyed? And will he be destroyed, and his power base with him, before or after he causes irrevocable harm to America?

Speaking of Barack Obama’s self-destruction, I have a question for you. We’ve all been anticipating the bloom coming off the Obama rose and I think that’s happening very swiftly right now. What I’m having a hard time envisioning is the look of a powerless Obama presidency.

For the next two years, there will still be a Democratic majority in Congress, although I suspect the Blue Dogs will be the power brokers. But what will Obama do? Will he sell out America behind the scenes through back channel communications with bad regimes? We know he won’t do a damn thing about Iran, but will he use his presidential powers to destroy Israel? (And assuming he tries, will he be successful? So far, he’s been unique amongst American presidents in uniting the fractious Israeli parties and people. Maybe he’s a good thing for them, in a weird way.) Will he learn and change on the job, becoming less ideological and more protective of the country in his charge? Will he become an ineffectual lame duck half-way through his first term?